Artefacts and documents, belonging
to a well-known local representative, which are on temporary exhibition at
Clare Museum, has led to a call for others to also loan items of special interest.

The inspiration for this initiative
has been the on-going exhibition from a primary school teacher and councillor
from Meelick. It shows a different side to Cathal Crowe who has been an avid
collector of political ephemera for a number of years.

Cathal was first introduced to
collecting by his father, who is an enthusiastic collector of folklife material,
including old radios and farming tools. He began to collect himself while
a student of history and politics at the University of Limerick. It began
by accident initially, as friends and acquaintances that knew of his interest
in both history and politics gave him old documents and leaflets of a political
nature. Before long, he found himself buying items and actively enhancing
the collection.

Cathal’s collection of political
ephemera has been on display for a number of months at the museum. It includes
Fianna Fáil-related documents, old newspapers, pamphlets political
postcards and some items dating back to the Home Rule campaign of a century
ago. It is a snapshot of Cathal’s ongoing hobby.

The museum’s recent exhibition
representing the wartime stories of Clare people also comprises items from
a private collector, including part of a uniform of an officer of the Royal
Munster Fusiliers.

‘It has become obvious that
the museum is in an ideal position to facilitate exhibitions from local private
collectors. The museum can provide a secure environment to bring to a wider
audience collections of items that individuals have built up over lifetimes
and it would have local appeal,’ according to museum curator, John Rattigan.

The initiative would also suit
collectors of coins, stamps, bottles and toys and it is intended to initially
create a list of interested collectors which would allow for a diverse series
of exhibitions.